The list uses internal and publicly available data to reveal the highest paid celebrities and influencers on the platform, with Huda Beauty coming out on top for the second year in a row.

With her 26 million followers, Huda can reportedly charge $33,000 (£25,141) per post. Another influencer who made the list is 19-year-old American YouTuber James Charles, earning a reported $9,750 (£7,430) per post.

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While it's important to bear in mind these figures are only estimates, they don't take into account the money influencers earn from Adsense on their YouTube videos, sponsorship opportunities with brands, collaborations and merchandise etc.

James Charles however, has taken to Twitter to argue that not only are we way underestimating how much YouTubers actually earn, but that compared to traditional 'celebrities', there is a YouTube pay gap.

just read an article about youtuber net worths and couldn’t help but laugh at how low the estimates all were. 😫 traditional media stays ignorant to the fact that most of us run empires and have better engagement than traditional media celebrities but keep making those lists lol

If you think about it, what are the real differences between typical "celebrities" and big youtubers? both have talents, both have millions of people watching them, both do endorsement deals & can sell product, both get press, both get paid a lot.. i'm curious to hear your input.

only major difference is the pay gap & respect. youtubers bring the same assets to the table (if not more, because in most cases we're more easily accessible to our followers) yet we're paid a FRACTION by advertisers & still not taken seriously by brands or media. its frustrating

In his thread, James compared YouTubers to "typical celebrities" stating that YouTubers bring the "same assets" to the table when it comes to number of followers, influence to sell products and press coverage. With the only difference being the "pay gap" and lack of respect by brands and media.

It appears that James clearly struck a nerve, as other people including influencers were quick to support him.

Traditional media also works VERY HARD to make social media seem like a big joke... it’s painfully obvious they feel threatened by the success of social media stars 🤷🏻‍♂️ it’s crazy. There’s room for all!

I feel like now more than ever people are seeing how difficult it really is to be a creator on YouTube. People think it's so easy to edit, upload, come up with ideas, deal with seeing thousands of hate comments every day, you can't complain at all or people will knock you down..

Can we talk about real issues like animal testing for beauty products & environmental issues in regard to packaging&wastes of makeup?I’d like to see influencers use their”fame”for something bigger,bc you have the #’s you can help with so much more than talking abt petty articles

In terms of the new era of celebrity, James makes a valid point. One of the reasons that celebrity perfume is dying, is because teenagers today idolise a new breed of 'celebrity'. You only have to watch a YouTube video of Jeffree Star being escorted out of a shopping centre by police due to crowds of screaming girls, to understand that.

A post shared by James Charles (@jamescharles) on Jul 30, 2018 at 11:17am PDT

The reach of YouTube is pretty phenomenal, it's reported that 97% of all 18-24 year olds in the UK use the site. However, if a brand is looking to target older audiences, 'traditional celebrity' endorsements might have more impact.

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